


Moving forward

by ShokoBean



Series: Step by Step [3]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Because nothing sounds fucking serious with that name, F/F, It's been over a YEAR since I wrote the first one, Lesbians, Lesbians Everywhere, Rated Teen for pussy jokes and my inability to not use fuck all the time, but here we are, do i regret the name for agent 3? yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 15:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17645519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShokoBean/pseuds/ShokoBean
Summary: Agent Three and Agent Eight are tired of how stagnant their friendship has become, but before they move on they have to be useless lesbians because that's how all my shitty stories work.





	Moving forward

**Author's Note:**

> It took like 20 FUCKING MINUTES to find a title for this bitch and that is about how the writing process for this whole thing went

Soft sounds of a scribbling pen on paper floated around through a small room, and the bright rays of the setting sun filled it with light and warmth, bathing the entire place in a warm golden glow. The girl who was responsible for the noise that disturbed the peace of the scenery did not take notice of this though, too focused on her task at hand. Her hand moved swiftly, writing words in both octoling and inkling language, melting and mending the two languages into one, probably indecipherable to anyone but her. The octoling cared little, letting more of her thoughts flow onto the paper. 

Pearl had taught her to use poetry to express her thoughts and feelings, even if her poems weren't very good or didn't even make sense. They made sense to  _ her _ , and that was all that mattered, according to the short Inkling.

It confused Ana at first, but by now she understood what Pearl had meant.

Usually her musings were about whatever kept her mind busy that day, but in the past week they constantly brought her back to one particular topic. 

Agent 3.

The pages of the notebook Pearl had gotten were filled with thoughts of her, scribbled drawings, and even her name here and there with hearts surrounding it.

Cod, she was such a cliche.

Her face lit up with red, and she quickly hid it in her hands, groaning at her stupid feelings. Now she couldn't stop thinking about her amber eyes that always softened when she looked at Ana, or how kind and patient she was despite her best efforts to be cool and edgy. Or how soft her lips were and how  _ badly _ she wanted to kiss them again.

Her face met the desk with a dull  _ thud _ . 

Only a heartbeat later her phone let out a quiet  _ ping _ , signalling that she had received a message. A grumble escaped her as she picked it up to see who bothered her in her brooding session.

 

_ Lizzy, 6:36pm _

_ Hey, buddy, friendo, pal, what's up? _

 

The octoling almost dropped her phone in surprise, heart speeding up erratically. Three. Agent Three had texted her. Lizzy, the inkling whose lips had been haunting her for weeks now.

She stared the phone with wide eyes, processing the words on screen. It was dumb, but her frazzled mind could barely make sense of anything in that moment. 

Ana sighed and put her phone down for a moment, pausing to take a deep breath. When she picked up the device once again, her tentacles were still curling and wiggling around with excitement and anxiety, but at least she wasn't on the verge of a gay panic attack anymore. 

She carefully worded her reply, making sure not to leave any typos, because if she did, Lizzy would surely think that she was an idiot and was still bad at the inkling language and that she wasn't worth her time-

Ana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just like Marina taught her to do when she got to anxious.

_ Caaaaalmmmm. _

After her thoughts were in order again, she looked at the reply she typed up, nodded to herself and sent it off before she could change her mind.

 

Ana, 6:43pm

_ Hey! Nothing much, just doing some stuff. What about you? _

 

It was lame as hell but it was  _ something _ at least, and Pearl said that most of the time, something was better than nothing. 

Unless you were in a horror movie.

Hopefully she wasn't in one. 

Before could dwell further in those thoughts, the sound of her phone going off brought her back to reality.

 

Lizzy, 6:45pm

_ Oh, stuff, that's neat, stuff is cool, I'm doing stuff too. _

 

Ana giggled; the inkling was such a dork sometimes. Another message coming in caught her attention.

 

Lizzy, 6:46pm

_ I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? _

 

Poor Ana immediately was sent into another frenzy, with a mix of both excitement and fear that left her quite dizzy. Her mind was racing with thoughts that were partially incoherent, even to her. 

She wanted to hang out. Why so suddenly? Had something happened? Did she really just want to hang out? Maybe Lizzy just wanted to rekindle their friendship. Or maybe it was her way of trying to ask her out? Or she just wanted to talk and end their friendship.

Ana just barely stopped herself from verbally articulating her stress (read: screaming).

Somehow, despite her mind completely breaking down, she still managed to form a coherent reply, after she got herself to type.

 

Ana, 6:55pm

_ Yeah I'd love too! What time? _

 

Lizzy, 6:56pm

_ Around five pm, if that's alright for you? _

 

Ana, 6:57pm

_ Yes, of course! See you then! _

 

Ana, not having the mental strength to continue the conversation, as much as she wanted to, put down her phone with a long, deep sigh.

“Fucknuggets,” she muttered to herself, one of the many creative words she had picked up from Pearl, much to Marinas dismay.

Speaking of the two cephalopods that had basically adopted her, she should probably inform about her coming plans.

So, she begrudgingly got up from her seat and left her poems unfinished for now to find her friends.

Fortunately, the apartment the three resided in wasn't a gigantic labyrinth, unlike Pearls mansion, so she found the two of them quite fast in the kitchen. Marina prepared dinner for the three of them while Pearl watched her with that goofy love-stricken smile she always wore when Marina couldn't see her stare. While it looked adorable on the inkling, Ana wondered with worry if she looked the same around Lizzy. Was she also that obvious? 

_ Oh cod I hope not. _

Pearl noticed her arrival first and grinned at her. “Aye kid. What's gotten ya all red in the face? Been thinking ‘bout Three again?”

Ana felt her face heat up in an instant and sputtered at the older girl. “No! You're one to talk! Stop staring at Marina all day before you pick on me!” 

Pearl stared at her, now with her own face flushed, but recovered quickly, to Ana’s misfortune.

“Well, what can I say, I'm a woman who appreciates art, and I see no shame in admiring a masterpiece like Marina.”

It was Marinas turn to sputter, and she turned around, her face almost glowing with green. “Can you two leave me out of your bickering? I can't concentrate on cooking if Pearl keeps uh… saying stuff like that.” 

“I can keep this up all day babe, you know how much stamina I have.”

Ana groaned and held her hands up in defeat. “Please stop. You win. Ugh, keep this in the bedroom.” 

She plopped down on the chair next to Pearl with a sigh. Maybe their banter had made her forget about her earlier question.

“Now, you still gotta tell me what got ya all in a fuss.” 

Of course she didn't.

“Well uh… Lizzy texted me and asked if I wanted to hang out tomorrow.”

“Ohhhh are you two finally moving alone? I sure hope so, it's getting painful to watch you two dance around each other.”

The two bickered for a while, until Marina startled them by placing plates in front of them. The octoling cleared her throat while she set up the table, looking at Ana.

“I have to agree with Pearl on this. You two need to talk, the sooner the better, and clear things up between you.”

Ana felt the heat rise up into her ears and nodded sheepishly. “I know, I want to, but it's so hard to even get a hold on her lately… and whenever we do hang out I don't know what to say…” Her voice faded towards the end and she sighed, feeling a strange, yet by now familiar heaviness settle into her chest. 

“I miss her.”

A solemn silence dragged itself over the small family like a blanket. It was Marina who broke it when she laid her hand on the young girls shoulder with a soft smile. 

“I'm sure it'll work out for you two, I just know you'll figure it out. Besides,” she smiled innocently, but the young octoling saw the mischief sparking in her eyes, “it would be a shame if you wouldn't, you two make such a cute couple.”

Ana’s head hit the table with a groan.

 

____________________________________

 

In a small apartment in Inkopolis, just a bit earlier in time, a young inkling stared at her phone, eyes on an already written message and her finger hovering over the button to send it off.

Her heart was beating in her ears, the blood rushing through them almost deafening her. She sighed and closed the chat for now, instead opening a group chat containing Agent 1, 2 and 4. An exasperated sigh escaped her as she scrolled through the recent messages, all three of them just calling her a coward. She really shouldn't have told them about her plans to text Ana. 

 

Vic, 6:23pm

_ DO IT YOU FUCKING COWARD JUST DO IT _

_ PUSSY _

_ AND DON’T YOU TELL ME “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT” _

**_COWARDS DON’T GET TO EAT PUSSY_ **

 

Liz, 6:28pm

_ Vic what the fuck _

_ Can you guys control your girlfriend _

 

Marie, 6:28pm

_ Nah this is pretty fun ngl _

 

Callie, 6:29pm

_ Why are you booing her she’s right _

_ You don’t get any pussy _

_ Especially not _

 

Marie, 6:29pm

_ Callie no _

  
Vic, 6:30pm

_ Callie no _

 

Lizzy, 6:31pm

**_Callie no_ **

 

Callie, 6:32pm

**_OCTOPUSSY_ **

 

Lizzy 6:33

_ Callie I’m fucking blocking you _

_ No one is getting any pussy _

 

Vic, 6:33

_ Well not with that attitude _

 

Marie, 6:34 

_ I just want you to know that I’m sending these screenshots to Pearl as we speak _

 

Lizzy, 6:35

_ Blocked, blocked, none of you are free from sin and I’m blocking all of you _

  
  


As much as Lizzy hated to admit it, the short conversation with her friend had calmed her nerves greatly, and before she could chicken out she reopened her chat with Ana and sent off her message, before immediately turning off the phone and just barely resisting the urge to throw it as far away as possible.

She inhaled deeply and put it down gently, opening her laptop instead and grabbing her headphones. She needed some music to keep herself calm during her wait for an answer, otherwise she would probably explode with how jittery she already was. The inkling turned the volume up loud enough that it probably damaged her ears, but in that moment she couldn’t care less. The music worked wonders for distracting her, her mind completely focusing on the melodies. Unfortunately, it startled her all the more when her phone went off to tell her that she had received a new message. She scrambled to turn off the current song and grabbed the device. She knew the message had to be from the octoling, since she had the group chat with the agents muted.

 

Indeed, she had answered, which meant that Lizzy had to text her back. That was the hard part. She typed out what came to her mind, because she knew that if she wouldn’t do it know as fast as possible, the doubt and fear would surely leave her to paralysed.

She didn't dare to waste time and confidence when she'd gotten so far already, so she kept her fingers busy and wrote her next message.

 

Lizzy, 6:46pm

_ I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? _

 

Alright, now she just had to wait and hope, but for what answer, she wasn't even sure. If Ana declined her offer to hangout, she wouldn't have to deal with the long overdue conversation between the two. Then again, she really just wanted to deal with this and get the mess that were her emotions sorted out and move on.

_ Moving on. The only thing that will come from this. Nothing more, nothing less. _

She couldn't fall into her musings as her phone once again made its presence known and demanded attention.

 

Ana, 6:55pm

_ Yeah I'd love too! What time? _

 

Time, time, something she had way too much of these days. That was how it was when you never played Turf War these days. 

Five pm, she decided. It was a good time, not too early and not too late, and she would have plenty of time to prepare herself. 

She sighed and waited for the octolings answer, which was quick to come with approval of the time. 

Her entire body suddenly felt light, the relief of accomplishing this so mundane task making her light-headed. Lizzy placed the phone face on her desk, because she knew she wouldn't be able to handle anymore of the conversation. 

Then she grabbed it again anyway, not even looking at the response she'd gotten and instead opening the chat with the other agents again.

 

Lizzy, 7:00pm

_ I did it Bitches _

___________ _ ___________ _ ________________

 

Time was a funny thing, Ana thought. When you were having a good time, it went by way too fast, the hours seemingly turning into mere minutes. But with waiting, now, waiting made time almost always slow down to a halt, moving forward painfully slow. 

Just as it did right now, while Ana waited for the clock to strike anywhere near five. She'd decided to pass the time by picking out an outfit, with the result being that now all her clothes were strewn about her room and she still didn't know what to wear.

She groaned in frustration. If at least Pearl and Marina were here they'd had no problem picking something out, but of course they were at work.

Eventually she managed to pick out an outfit that was gay, but not  _ too _ gay, as Pearl would probably describe it. Her eyes wandered towards the clock again. Half past four. If she left the house now, she'd be a little early, but hopefully Lizzy wouldn't mind.

She grabbed her jacket, keys and phone and swiftly made her way out of the apartment, locked the door and went on her way, her heart bouncing with excitement for today's evening.

 

The evening air was fresh and by the time she arrived by the other agents home she was quite cold, as her jacket was a little too thin to withstand the wind. She'd have to buy a new one soon. 

She knocked on the door to the inklings apartment, and immediately heard shuffling noises and steps moving closer.

A heartbeat later the door was opened and revealed the older agent. 

It was obvious, even to Ana, that she was nervous, with a very light green shade tinting her face, but she was smiling nonetheless. 

Ana grinned, now sporting her own blush on her face.

“Hey! I'm a bit early, sorry!”

“Ah, no, it's all good, please come in.” 

As Lizzy made space, Ana was quick to step in, immediately feeling familiarity wash over her. She'd spend so much time at her friends place that it almost felt like a second home. She hummed happily, looking around for a moment it was exactly like the last time she was here, back when she and Lizzy…

Ah, great, now she was really blushing hard.

She turned towards her friend, who was awkwardly standing in the room, fiddling with her fingers and looking anywhere but her.

“S-So, uh,” Lizzy started, settling on staring at the ground, “what d’you wanna do? I thought we could watch a movie, but it's cool if you don't wanna, er, so just tell me if you do-”

“Lizzy.”

The inkling jumped, her ears twitching anxiously while she still stared at the ground. 

“I'd love to watch a movie. But, I think we should… talk first, don't you think?”

There was silence for a while, Lizzy’s eyes flicking across the room once again.

“Y-yeah, probably.” 

Another silence, longer, much heavier, draped itself over them, both of them looking for something to say.

 

“I'm sorry.” It finally broke out of the inkling, and that was the drop that triggered a sudden rush of everything that had been brewing in her for so long.

“I'm sorry, because, I shouldn't have kissed you, it started this whole mess, and I feel like I was just abusing the opportunity to satisfy my own feelings, and it's so selfish, and it just made everything so much worse because I can't stop thinking about you and I can't… I can't stop wanting to be more than friends and I'm ruining our friendship just because I can't keep it together anymore, and I feel so horrible about everything, because even if you do like me back you deserve so much better. I mean look at me, I'm a mess! I'm an idiot! And I'm so selfish, and I'm… sorry…”

Ana stared at her, stunned at the sudden flood of words. From Agent Three no less. 

It took her awhile to process everything, feeling strangely guilty. Lizzy had suffered and completely blamed herself, for what? Being selfish? She just wanted to be happy; that wasn't selfish in Ana's mind. 

Inklings were so strange.

Finally she turned her attention back to the inkling, only to realise that she was sniffling, desperately trying to stifle her sobs. 

She moved forward, and before she could stop herself she grabbed the inkling and hugged her softly, muttering soothing words in both inkling and octoling language. 

She leaned back a little, pushing her forehead against Lizzy's, forcing the inkling to look her in the eyes.

“Hey, Lizzy,  _ listen _ . You're not selfish, and if you  _ are _ , then I'm selfish too.”

She was met with a confused look and she grinned. And people thought she was the oblivious one.

“Have you considered, that perhaps, by chance, I'd want to be more than friends too? Friends don't kiss, you know, but I really want to kiss you, and you want to kiss me, if I understood correctly, so there's really only one way to go, isn't there?” 

The other girl stared at her silently with wide eyes. Ana swore she could almost  _ hear _ the gears turning in her head. 

“Wait so like- you wanna- like-”

Ana shut off the inklings flustered rambling with a quick kiss on her lips. As she pulled back she looked at her for a moment, humming to herself.

“Green really suits you.”

There was another silence between them, both of them getting lost in each others eyes. 

“So, are we… a thing now? Are you really sure about this?”

“Yes, Lizzy, I’m sure about this, and I’ll kiss you until you believe me if I have to.”

Lizzy laughed softly, a sound that made the octoling’s heart flutter.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind that. But seriously, I know I can be a handful.”

“Neither of us are without marks. We can work on anything together, neither of us have to carry anything alone.”

“Geez, when did you get so wise?”

“I learned a lot from Pearl, I think. She’s smarter than she acts. She’s a lot like you, now that I think about it.”

A snort escaped the inkling and she pulled away a little, grinning at the other girl. 

“Soooo, now, you said you wanted to kiss me until I believe you? Because I’m not sure if I believe you yet...”

**Author's Note:**

> SHOUTOUT TO MY FRIEND ECHO FOR MAKING THIS MESS INTO SOMETHING READABLE


End file.
